Luscombe chose five years at the start

When
Michael Luscombe
spoke openly in February about life after
Woolworths
, there was no sense of urgency, no sense of pressure.

“Death, taxes and that other R word are three things everyone will face, hopefully in the right order," Mr Luscombe told The Australian Financial Review at the time.

As it turns out, Mr Luscombe has been planning the date of his retirement since October 2006, when he took the helm from
Roger Corbett
.

The self-imposed five-year deadline meant Mr Luscombe had a limited period to achieve all his goals for Woolies.

These included: a new format for Woolworths supermarkets; further expansion of the successful liquor strategy; the integration of New Zealand supermarkets acquired in 2005 from Foodland; Woolworths’ entry into the $36 billion hardware market to compete against Bunnings; a new customer loyalty program; and cost-cutting to augment the 2001-2005 Refresh and Mercury supply chain restructuring.

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Mr Luscombe also committed Woolworths to ambitious carbon reduction targets, introduced paid maternity leave for female staff, encouraged the promotion of female executives and played an active role in schemes to support indigenous Australians and foster business skills among farmers.

But Mr Luscombe could never have foreseen the global financial crisis, the ensuing downturn in consumer spending – which forced plans to expand offshore to be put on hold – or the speed of Coles’s turnaround, which will take some of the gloss off earnings in his last years.

Mr Luscombe remains optimistic for Woolworths’ future.

“We have a strong growing business. And we have got some great plans," he said.